From bastis

Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. Being one of the three Baltic States, it is bordered to the north by Estonia, to the south by Lithuania, to the east by the Russian Federation and to the southeast by Belarus. Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden.

Contents 1 Country Profile 1.1 Geography/Population 1.2 Politics 1.3 Economy 2 Tourism Demand 2.1 General 2.2 International travel 2.3 Travel behaviour 2.4 Holiday planning 2.5 Heritage Tourism 3 Traffic links into the Baltic Sea Region 3.1 Air 3.2 Sea 3.3 Rail 3.4 Road 4 References

Country Profile

Geography/Population

• Land area: 64,589 km² (country comparison to the world: 123)
• Population: 2.2 million inhabitants (country comparison to the world: 141); 34 inhabitants/km²; Latvian 59.3%, Russian 27.8%, Belarusian 3.6%, Ukrainian 2.5%, Polish 2.4%, Lithuanian 1.3%, other 3.1%
• Biggest Cities: Capital Riga (711,000), Daugavpils (103,000), Jūrmala (55,000)
• Urbanisation: 68% of the Latvian population live in cities
• Religions: Lutheran 19.6%, Orthodox 15.3%, other Christian 1%, other 0.4%, unspecified 63.7%
• Languages: Latvian (official) 58.2%, Russian 37.5%, Lithuanian and other 4.3%
• Age structure (Median age: 40.6 years):

0-14 years: 13.5%

15-64 years: 69.5%

65+ years: 16.9%

• Population projection: The Latvian population will be relatively constant in the future (2025: 2.1 million inhabitants)

_{Source: CIA - The World Factbook 2011 ^[1], UN Population divison 2010 ^[2]}

---

Politics

• Government type: democratic parliamentary republic
• Chief of state: Valdis Zatlers (since 2007)
• Head of government: Valdis Dombrovskis (since 2009)
• Administration: 109 municipalities
• Since 1991 independent of the Soviet Union

_{Source: CIA - The World Factbook 2011 ^[1]}

---

Economy

	2007	2008	2009	2010*	2011*	2015*
GDP (PPP) in billion US$	39.9	39.0	32.3	32.3	33.8	42.1
GDP development	+13.2%	-2.2%	-17.2%	-0.1%	+4.7%
GDP per capita (PPP) in US$	17,500	17,200	14,300	14,300	15,000	19,000
Inflation rate	10.1%	15.3%	3.3%	-1.4%	0.9%
Unemployment rate	6.2%	7.8%	17.3%	19.8%	17.5%

^{*2010, 2011, 2015 data: estimates by IMF, October 2010}

• GDP-composition by sector: services: 75.2% industry: 20.6% agriculture: 4.2%
• Latvia is a small, open economy with exports contributing significantly to its GDP. Due to its geographical location, transit services are highly-developed, along with timber and wood-processing, agriculture and food products, and manufacturing of machinery and electronic devices. The bulk of the country's economic activity, however, is in the services sector.
• Import- and export: Most important partners are Lithuania, Estonia, Russia, Germany, Sweden (export), Poland (import)
• Currency: Lats, it is abbreviated as Ls. The lats is sub-divided into 100 santīmi (pegged to Euro, 1 Euro = Ls 0.702804
• Income distribution: The Latvian distibution of income is quite balanced (slightly above-average, position 51 worldwide)
• HDI (Human Development Index): Latvia is a „High Human Development“ Country (2010: country comparison in the world: 48)
• Media access: worldwide benchmarking of communication infrastructure: Rank 41

_{Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database^[3], CIA - The World Factbook 2011 ^[1], DZT Estland, Lettland, Litauen 2010 ^[4], UNDP Human Development Report 2010 ^[5], OECD Factbook (2010) ^[6], ITU International Telecommunication Union ^[7]}

Tourism Demand

General

• Travel propensity: 56% of the Latvian travelled at least once in 2009, either for business or private purposes. Note: travelling was defined as spending one night away from home, for private or business purposes.
• "Private" travel propensity:

45% of the Latvian had travelled – for private reasons – at least once in 2009

8% had made at least one holiday trip (4+ nights) and at least one short private trip (1-3 nights)

16% had made at least one holiday trip but no short private trips

21% had made at least one short private trip but no holiday trips

• Travel frequency of the Latvian private travellers:

39% of them made exactly one holiday or short private trip in 2009

23% made two

5% made three

16% four to five

6% six to ten

10% more than ten trips

• Domestic holidays: The share of main holiday trips of the Latvian with domestic destinations was 14% in 2008. In European comparison this value is very low. Other countries with low domestic shares are e.g. the Benelux states, Germany and the UK, because traditionally in these countries holiday trips abroad dominate.

_{Source: Flash Eurobarometer 291 (2010) ^[8] Flash Eurobarometer 258 (2009) ^[9]}

---

International travel

	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
Number of international trips of the Latvian	1.1 million	1.3 million	1.4 million	1.5 million	1.7 million	1.4 million

• Holiday/business/VFR: 63% of the 1.4 million international trips in 2009 were holiday, 23% VFR (visiting friends and relatives), 14% business
• Frequency of international travel: on average, every Latvian (15+ years old) took 0.7 international trips in 2009
• Regional source markets: 50% of international trips in 2009 originated from the region Riga, 15% from from the region Vidzeme and 14% from the region Latgale
• Destinations all international trips 2009:

1. other Baltic states (19%; 0.3 million)

2. Germany (15%; 0.2 million)

3. Russia (14%; 0.2 million)

• Duration of international trips of the Latvian 2009:

International holiday trips: 7.3 nights

International VFR trips: 9.4 nights

International business trips: 7.9 nights

• International travel spendings 2009: total 0.7 billion Euro - corresponding to 514 Euro per international trip and 69 Euro per night abroad. Note: including all costs of travel and transport at home and at the destination

_{Source: IPK International: World Travel Monitor 2009. In: DZT Estland, Lettland, Litauen 2010 ^[4]}

---

Travel behaviour

• Major Motivation for main holiday trip 2009:

1. Visiting someone 38% [EU27: 17%]

2. Rest/recreation 37% [EU27: 37%]

3. Culture/religion 9% [EU27: 6%]

• Method of transport for main holiday trip 2009:

1. Car 37% [EU27: 48%]

2. Airplane 33% [EU27: 35%]

3. Bus 25% [EU27: 6%]

4. Train 4% [EU27: 7%]

5. Boat 1% [EU27: 2%]

• Organisation of main holiday trip 2009:

70% Travel organised individually [EU27: 58%]

3% Travel booked through travel agency [EU27: 13%]

5% Package tour booked via Internet [EU27: 11%]

15% Package tour booked through travel agency [EU27: 10%]

7% Other [EU27: 7%]

_{Source: Flash Eurobarometer 291 (2010) ^[8]}

---

Holiday planning

• Holiday destination choice criteria of the Latvian:

1. The environment 33% [EU27: 32%]

2. Cultural heritage 25% [EU27: 25%]

3. Entertainment 15% [EU27: 16%]

• Information sources for holiday planning:

1. Recommendations of friends/relatives: total 70% [EU27: 58%], most important source 37% [EU27: 30%]

2. Personal experience: total 40% [EU27: 31%], most important source 26% [EU27: 18%]

3. Internet: total 33% [EU27: 42%], most important source 12% [EU27: 24%]

4. Media (TV, radio, newspaper): total 12% [EU27: 9%], most important source 5% [EU27: 3%]

5. Guidebooks/magazines: total 11% [EU27: 12%], most important source 5% [EU27: 5%]

6. Catalogues/brochures: total 11% [EU27: 14%], most important source 4% [EU27: 6%]

7. Travel and tourist agencies: total 10% [EU27: 22%], most important source 6% [EU27: 11%]

• Destination preferences:

41% Traditional, well-known destinations [EU27: 57%]

39% Not important, no preference [EU27: 13%]

18% Non-traditional, emerging destinations [EU27: 28%]

• Planned destination main holiday trip 2010:

34% Latvia

10% Baltic Sea Region (outside Latvia)

29% Outside BSR

28% No main holiday planned

_{Source: Flash Eurobarometer 291 (2010) ^[8]}

---

Heritage Tourism

• Major Motivation for main holiday trip 2009:

1. Visiting someone 38% [EU27: 17%]

2. Rest/recreation 37% [EU27: 37%]

3. Culture/religion 9% [EU27: 6%]

4. City trip 4% [EU27: 7%]

5. Nature 4% [EU27: 6%]

6. Sun/beach 3% [EU27: 19%]

7. Wellness/health 2% [EU27: 3%]

8. Sports-related 2% [EU27: 4%]

• Holiday destination choice criteria of the Latvian:

1. The environment 33% [EU27: 32%]

2. Cultural heritage 25% [EU27: 25%]

3. Entertainment 15% [EU27: 16%]

4. Festivals/events 9% [EU27: 5%]

5. Art 4% [EU27: 6%]

6. Gastronomy 3% [EU27: 6%]

• Expectations about emerging destinations:

Expectations about emerging destinations vary widely across the different European countries. In Latvia respondents' main expections lay in the 'discovery of local culture and lifestyle' (36% [EU27: 33%]). But other expections, such as lower prices (23% [EU27: 18%]) and better value for money (13% [EU27: 21%]) corresponding to a budget traveller also play a big role for the Latvian

_{Source: Flash Eurobarometer 291 (2010) ^[8]}

Traffic links into the Baltic Sea Region

Air

Riga International Airport is Latvia's major airport. Other international airports with connections into the Baltic Sea Region are Liepajas Airport and Ventspils Airport. Please look up the airport links for their current connections into the BSR:

• Riga Airport
• Liepajas Airport
• Ventspils Airport

Sea

There are several ferry-connections from Latvia into the Baltic Sea Region, e.g. to Germany, Finland, Sweden and Russia. A current overview of the ferry lines can be found here.

Rail

Most important international trains into the Baltic Sea Region depart from Riga, heading e.g. towards Moscow, Saint Petersburg (Russia) or Vilnius (Lithuania). For further information about timetables and prices see Latvian Railways.

Road

Latvia has a widely branched network of roads, however, high-speed motorways and roads may differ in quality. From Latvia, you can drive to Estonia, Lithuania, Russia and to Belarus. Estonia is located 311 km from Riga, Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital - 290 km. These countries are joined by the road Via Baltica, which is part of the E67 motorway. Please note when going from Latvia to Russia or Belarus by car, you will have to pass customs controls and the crossing of the border may take some time, depending on the customs staff availability. (Russia capital city Moscow is located 929 km away from Riga, while St. Petersburg - 577 km, Belarus capital, Minsk - 480 km)

For further information on roads in Latvia see here.

References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} CIA - The World Factbook, January 2011 [1]
2. ↑ UN Population division 2010 [2]
3. ↑ IMF (International Monetary Fund): World Economic Outlook Database, October 2010 [3]
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Deutsche Zentrale für Tourismus: Marktinformationen Estland, Lettland, Litauen [4]
5. ↑ UNDP Human Development Report 2010[5]
6. ↑ OECD Factbook 2010: Economic, Environmental and Social Statistics [6]
7. ↑ ITU International Telecommunication Union, Measuring the Information Society 2010 [7]
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3} European Commission: Flash Eurobarometer 291, March 2010: Survey on the attitudes of Europeans towards tourism [8]
9. ↑ European Commission: Flash Eurobarometer 258, March 2019: Survey on the attitudes of Europeans towards tourism [9]